Astrology and Power by David Rowan

In a profound sense, the most potent power is found in the absence of force; the greatest power is to master yourself - the greatest mystery is how to do it. The greatest fear is to know well yourself - the greatest strength you'll ever know is to change your inner world ...

In Astrology, different types of power are represented by different symbols: The Sun, Jupiter, Mars and Pluto symbolise the fiery, most observable forms of power. Neptune, Venus and the Moon represent the dynamics of love and Mercury and Uranus represent different octaves of thought and comprehension. Each of these symbols represents many meanings (they are polysemous) and they can be grouped in a variety of different ways. This note, as the title suggests, is about power. The confines of this medium means we can only take a cursory glance; in my classes we would discuss each of these symbols; the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Pluto, each for three or four days - here, one has to be concise, rather than thorough and although this means we cannot explore them in great detail, it is possible to glance through the window into the realms of power ...

The Astrological symbol for the Sun is a dot within a circle:

 It is reported that modern theologians have looked at the biblical expression, 'God made man in his own image', and concluded that if anything, God is word we use to describe the generative force of the power of creation. Whether you follow the notion of, ' man in god's image' or the Hermetic perspective of, 'As above so below', the conclusion is that the nature of being human is one of being a generative force. .. We are generative, creative beings and we each have authorship of the pathways of our lives (including casting ... lol). We have no innate power over external people or events, though we can have influence and employ persuasion, seduction, ruthlessness, enthusiasm, fear and common sense logic to charm, enchant, captivate, order or control; these may, or may not, be enduring and those which employ some form of force may be ultimately unsatisfying and ineffective in a long-term or deeper sense. We do, however, have the inner power, at some level, of determining how we respond to circumstances and what we can draw from even the most arduous experience. A lot of our reactions to experience are coloured by unconscious, conditioned (learned) responses and, with certain techniques from modern applied psychology, these can be adjusted, changed and re-designed. One of the greatest sources of inner power is knowing, not just intellectually, but viscerally knowing that we are the authors of experience. The steps and decisions, responses and reactions we took in the past has led to where we are now; it is true to say, is it not, that every single thing you have ever done in your life a has led you to reading these words right now ... and how  you react or respond to these words, the internal narrative you are having, the inner-images you are seeing, will colour the orientation of the next steps you take into your future ...

The Astrological symbol for Mars, is that of an arrow reaching out from a central point; a circle ...

The power of self expression is inherent within all life forms; the reaching of a flower toward the sun, the reaching of a hand toward an apple ... when we express our nature we take our place in the scheme of creation - however, self expression can take many forms and it may be wisest to do so as if one has kindness set as the default in one's heart ...

In the human experience, self expression can be thwarted: inhibited, dominated, controlled, modified, adapted, suppressed, oppressed, repressed etc. Self expression can also be directed: assertion, exuberance, enthusiasm, creativity, initiative etc. It is my astrological opinion that depression, which is different to sadness or even a forlorn absence of hope (things symbolised by Neptune); depression has two primary roots; symbolised by Mars and Saturn and this perspective on depression is best explored in an article in its own right. At least, that is what I believe ...

The Astrological symbol for Jupiter is a crescent, poised at the start of a sojourn through time and space, represented by the cross of matter:

http://www.davidrowan.co.uk/solar/planets_astrology.html

During our journey of life through time and space we think we have free-will, but perhaps complete free-will is an illusion. Our brain is situated within a neurochemical environment ... our comprehension of reality; the narrative of meaning we give to what we experience,  is situated within our epigentic potentials, our personal history to date, our ontological position, our socio-affective environment, our immediate social relations, our culture; memes and discourses, our politics and ideology, our national and spiritual identity ... all of which form the building blocks of what we believe to be true. Beliefs are very powerful and form the context within which we conduct the making of meaning; we then form decisions based on what we believe to be true  and act upon these decisions whilst believing our understanding of reality to be a an unshakable fact - the Truth. There are currently 6.9 billion humans on earth, each with their own niche viewpoint of the universe and unique perspective on 'reality'. We are, however, relational beings and form alliances based on the common ground of our shared reality. We do not share all of the model of our own niche reality, much of it is unconscious ... this description of reality is, of course, not true; it is a statement of my current beliefs about the nature of our, or rather my, reality ...

The Astrological symbol for Pluto shows the circle of the spirit, elevated above the crescent of the soul which is established above the cross of matter ...

From an esoteric perspective, this symbol represents the  'rightful' order of things ...  however, if the Soul/psyche has some intellectual, psychological or emotional distortions, or unresolved issues, in its dynamics there may be a gap between 'what is' and 'what seems to be'. The symbol of Pluto shows everything in perfect alignment. If we have moved away from our true spiritual path then your inner being will bring those facets of your life back into alignment by influencing your unconscious to create, through behaviours and actions, the perfect environment in which those issues can be clearly identified and worked with. In other words, we somehow conspire to make our circumstances 'fit' the issues we need to learn, and, like a 'cosmic tuning fork' our inner-being resonates with the external circumstances and the 'trapped' feelings come to the surface for transformation and re-integration into the psyche.

The symbol of Pluto shows us the natural order of things from the perspective of life within spirit; a window upon the land of light from which we emerge into this life and to which we return as this journey passes into the greatest adventure of all.

The word transformation, describes the process in which something changes form; thee old passes into something new ... Empowerment describes an experience of being conscious of  our ability to play a role in the shaping of our life and the path we are taking. C J Jung once said, 'Some things cannot be changed, they are merely out grown'. Change can often seem disempowering and yet we can step into empowerment by embracing change and using it as an opportunity to write a new chapter in life ... Death is a word we use to describe an ending, however, endings are the prelude to new beginnings; when winter dies, spring is born .... the death of spring heralds the birth of summer; the death of poverty is the birth of wealth - the death of wealth is the birth of poverty ... when a caterpillar dies a butterfly is born ... Change is the only constant, and the only thing one can guarantee in life. Everything flows in cycles and every point in a cycle has its season. When change is occurring one can mourn the passing of the old by casting the attention of one's eye to that which is passing - or - one can instead, place the eye of one's attention to designing the new chapter; how best to draw the best from new circumstances and what actions can one take in order for the new chapter to be even better ?  ... how can I change myself in order to blossom in the spring of new change ... :)

 For an overview of the symbols of all the planets and what their shapes mean, please click here:

http://www.davidrowan.co.uk/solar/planets_astrology.html

For a series of short videos explaining your personal astrological birth cart, please click here:

http://www.davidrowan.co.uk/solar/introducing_astrology.html

For a list of what I can tell you from  your birth chart, and the full range of topics I discuss with you in a life-reading, please click here:

http://www.davidrowan.co.uk/solar/astrology_chart.html

and, if you find you life the breadth or depth of these philosophical musings from my understanding of astrology and would like to learn and chat about life on this, and a deeper level, you may be interested in  my online astrology course. A waiting list of those who are interested and wish to register

http://www.davidrowan.co.uk/solar/online_teaching.html

In kindness

Dave

© David Rowan, September 2011

‘A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself part of the liberation, and a foundation for inner security’.

 Albert  Einstein

An Adult Living with Autism by David Rowan ... continued

• Dyslexia

Most commonly known and understood, possibly because large numbers of the population have very mild hints of this mild end of the spectrum. Ordinarily, experienced as a difficulty with either letters or numbers, it is often accompanied with a high intellect and sensitive and restless central nervous system.

• Aspergers Syndrome:

An A-social condition which commonly induces a high intellectual capacity along with an emotional bewilderment and untypical social and relational perception. It may help to think of archetypal figures such as ‘Spok’ from star trek, or a mad professor who knows a great deal about his topic but cannot find the glasses on his head and has odd socks on. It is now thought that Einstein, Newton and Andy Warhol were Aspergers.

There is a sensitive central nervous system which is easily overwhelmed by sensory phenomena; sounds, smells, touch, textures of clothing, the strength of light ... can all be relentlessly uncomfortable. 

Imagine that all the while a main ceiling light is switched on in your living room, someone is standing behind you, tapping your neck with a pencil – all the time ... or, imagine that the sound of aggression, whether directed at you or not, is not just heard, but is felt like a sharp physical punch ... or, imagine that the weight of clothing constantly taps at your attention.

When I walk into an unfamiliar large shop, like a supermarket or shopping arcade, I am often swamped with the movements, lights, colours, sounds and smells which seem to rush at me like a sensory wave. It can seem a bit disconcerting at times and I often react by becoming a little withdrawn. After a while, my system seems to acclimatise and a sense of balance is restored (unless the environment is very busy, noise, or bright, in which case it can become overwhelming to the point of needing to remove myself from the environment).

In spectral terms, Aspergers Syndrome may be thought of as a very very strong dyslexia: Dyslexia + + ...

and ...

• Dyspraxia:

A motor-coordination problem. My brain is wired in such a way that my hand, and feet, sometimes move involuntarily, or land wide of an intended mark. For example:

I often peel my thumb instead of the potato I am holding ...

My guitar playing may be creative and interesting, but it is also rather clunky. I play blues and rock guitar because they require a little less precision than classical guitar and if I am recording a song I am often in a great deal of pain before the song ends – it can take an incredible amount of time to do a simple take. Likewise, it takes me a very long time to chop the veg for dinner or to write a reply to an email ...

The feet and general spatial awareness are a problem bordering on inconvenient. I sometimes trip over nothing and crash to the floor with an inelegant surprise – I got a stick to walk with in 20098, and this has helped tremendously. I often bump into doorframes, rather than go smoothly though the gap (my feet tend to follow my  eye and if I am looking at the door frame in order to judge its distance, instead of passing by it I find I walk into it – even though I do not want to). I have almost caused a dozen heart attacks in glassware and gift shops and now only visit such places feeling a very strong sense of being self-conscious. I am also slightly echo-praxic, meaning that I involuntarily copy other’s movements. If I am at a gig and someone looks up to the lighting rig, I take my eye off the band and look upwards as well – which is very irritating because I lose the moment I was enraptured in (which is why I like to be at the front, so I can become lost inside the performance and not be jolted out if it). Embarrassingly, I also find myself following  ‘the car in front’, turning wherever they turn, even if I want to go in a different direction ...
and ...

I wouldn't change being Aspergers for the world

It certainly isn't a disease; a disease may be defined as a condition with consistent symptoms caused by an infection.

Aspergers is a syndrome; a varied collection of traits from which different individuals have salient combinations. The (British) Autistic Society calls viewing the world from a mainly right-brain perspective; an Autistic Spectrum Disorder. I strongly disagree: I think it would be more accurate to call it an Autistic Spectrum Perception.

One can only describe a character trait as one of many potential expressions from a rainbow of human possibilities. If there were such a thing as a standard off-the-shelf  'normal'  human then yes, anyone outside of that norm could be considered disordered. However, because human beings are not machines, the concepts of  'normalising'  is misplaced and, therefore, while an individual may be disadvantaged in certain areas of life, to say one is disordered is, in my opinion, unacceptable.

Labels are important - they help people to understand things and relate with the world appropriately. For example,

 'Safe car’ - is a label ... 'Death trap' - is a label.

We must know the difference. ...

'Pedant' - is a label ... 'Aspergers' - is a label.

If you are able to discern the difference between these two distinctly different orientations in consciousness and correctly identify which one applies to me, then you will be able to respond to me with appropriate sensitivity - or, if not, and you respond to me as if I am an awkward pedant, I will feel bullied, alienated and misunderstood.

The label 'Aspergers' allows non-Aspergers people to step out of the lens of their judgments and view me from a different perspective. Unfortunately, our present society does not seem to have kindness and gentleness at its core - and that is possibly due to the neuro-typicals who run everything from the government to the media and entertainment industry ...

For me, being an adult with an autism  hat-trick, is like a wonderful gift. I may miss what others see, but I see what others miss; and while my right brain opens into wonderful creativity, it also has a heightened sensitivity for another's experience and people comment that my astrology readings have an insight into their inner world and psyche which is profound and deeply moving.

Memory:

Regarding my memory, I often forget things - and often important things too. For a neuro-typical, if something is over looked it signifies that the over looked thing was somehow unimportant, as if the amnesia signified a diminished sense of value. This is not the case with the autistic spectrum: I forget trivial stuff and important stuff just the same; this is one of the reasons I find finances so hard to manage - I constantly forget to remember to say things and miss deadlines and then all the dominos fall over. I can have an intention to tell someone something important and if I then get distracted by something, days can go by before I say what I was going to say. There is no malice in this, nor any intention to deceive; it is more a question or managing a chaotic mind: Asperger's Syndrome, Mercury in Pisces, however you wish to describe it, the phenomenon is the same ... it is also a very creative and inspirational place to find oneself - though not good for practicality.

Communicating: listening and speaking through the lens of literalism:

People with Asperger's are inclined towards literalism, which colours both how I express myself and how I receive what is said to me. It would seem that non-Asperger's people, sometimes referred to as, 'neuro-typicicals', communicate with inferences, hints and implications. To me, these nuances of communication are invisible. Conversely, people often respond to things I say as if I said different words and I find this very confusing. Another source of confusion for me is ambiguity and whenever I am confused I tend to adopt the approach of seeking clarity. I do this by asking questions. Sometimes, my questions are ignored because the person I am seeking clarity from is not clear themselves. Sometimes, my questions are met with hostility because the person I am seeking clarity from does not understand that I did not understand, and so presumes I am asking questions because I have some kind of nefarious or hurtful agenda ... or perhaps I am just plain awkward and pedant. I am none of these things; I am an autistic spectrum communicator. Being an autistic spectrum thinker is great for being creative but I do tend to get lost in conversation in which the references are unclear - it is as if my ability to intuit the context does not work; I find it particularly difficult to follow someone if they refer back to something which was said previously, long or short term, without describing it specifically.

For example, when I posted something on facebook about BBC Radio 4 interviewing me at Stonehenge, someone made a comment about my accent; 'how do you sound with that accent ?', she asked ...

I had no idea how to answer this question. 'How do you sound with that accent ?' - what does this question mean ?

is it a sarcastic remark ? ... is it a compliment ?

I had no idea how to interpret the question, let alone answer it. I have been listening to the sound of my voice, via my ears and jaw-bone for almost 49 years. I have been listening to my voice on recordings; songs, then relaxation tapes, then CDs, then mp3s since 1980. I have heard my voice on the radio half a dozen times since 1994. I have heard it on MAP training videos since 1995, and via the TV twice since 2001 - and on u-tube astrology videos since 2010 ...

To an Asperger's mind; a sentence made with reference to a comment you have made in the past, and can obviously remember, sounds like a random statement to me, because, I do not know what memory of what you have said previously that you are referring to ...

This is not awkwardness, nor pedantry, it is autism - my brain errs towards literalism and cannot follow cryptic messages or ambiguities; I do not have the intuition afforded to those of a 'neuro-typical' nature.

All can do is either become bemused and perplexed at not knowing what you are driving at, and not knowing if you are complimenting or ridiculing my voice
or ...

ask !

Rather than guess what you mean and risk making an erroneous presumption, I prefer to ask, and I hope I ask in a clear and polite way. I have no desire to cause any discomfort - I just want to understand ... x

There are things my aspie brain can do very easily, that neuro-typical brains find more difficult. I teach people these things and am told I am gifted; though really, I am just living through a different perceptual experience. Likewise, there are things that neuro-typicals find natural and easy that aspies find really hard, or even nigh-on impossible.

For example: to illustrate both perspectives imagine a physically disabled person picking up a coin from the floor. For an able bodied person, this action may be so un-challenging that they hardly notice the effort in doing it. For the disabled person though, it may require a herculean effort ...

Now, make the disability invisible; imagine a voice so clear and articulate that the aspie person sounds wise and very capable. Imagine, a reference to something has been dropped during a conversation which has meandered back and forth between three topics. The neuro-typical person makes a comment about one of these three topics and, rather than specifically making a reference to it (naming the topic) they refer to the topic as 'it', using an unspecified reference. Intuiting which topic the  'it'  is referring to is easy for the neuro-typical, they can mentally pick up the coin. For the Asperger's person listening, the use of the unspecified  'it'  is the precursor to a whirl of  confusion, self-doubt, frustration, humiliation and embarrassment. If the Asperger's person is at that moment feeling particularly vulnerable or shy, the confusion may be held internally and their self confidence bruised. If the Asperger's person is feeling safe with the communicator, they may ask the communicator to clarify what they said; which may confuse the communicator because the communicator may well believe they have been absolutely clear; the communicator could follow their train of thought and knew what they meant when they said the word  'it', so surely, anyone they are speaking with can also do the same ...

Things we find easy others may not. Things we find difficultt, others may find easy. Following an ambiguous, or unstated context, for me, is nigh-on impossible; though I do understand, that other people find it easy and communicate that way frequently.

When my brain becomes befuddled, it goes through a sort of 360 degree random context search and, because I do not know the context (and, for my autistic brain, regardless ...of every previous conversation, it is contextually neutral and blank) I begin to think of every possible meaning I can attribute to the sentence; and, being somewhat bright, that means I am overwhelmed with dozens of varieties of means - instantly ...

This is not personal - my brain responds this way to every ambiguous statement I hear, regardless of who the communicator is; a news presenter on TV, a close friend, a client ... my brain is always seeking clarity and finds befuddlement painful. As far as I can tell, a lot of aspergers people have a similar experience.

Figures of speech are another source of chaotic bedlam for the Aspie mind. People tend to use figures of speech that they are familiar with, and often, it seems, presume that the recipient of their communication is either already familiar with  the figure, or, is easily able to intuit its meaning and this  would be the case for a neuro-typical.

However, for an aspie brain, it is very different.

To use the example set out previous, that of my voice on the radio: if the inquiry had been phrased in the following way, without any figures of speech or assumed understanding, 'How does your voice sound to you on the radio ?', I would have understood immediately and been very happy to give the most accurate and detailed answer possible. I am not a pedant; to me, a pedant is a person who is somehow deciding to be pedantic, as if they have a choice in the matter, or are able to modify their pedantry or even stop it altogether, for diplomatic reasons, for example. I cannot pick up pedantry and put it down again; pedantry is not something I do, it is bi-product of a neural orientation.

When an aspie understands a question, they are likely to embark on a great and deep inquiry, so beware ! - your easy, light, casual question can actually end up as a PhD research study which takes more than five years to complete ... :)

I am still answering a question I was asked about astrology in 1983 :

I'd also like to mention ...

in my aspie experience, I often find that people forget that I am aspergers and expect me to respond in a neuro-typical way. Even very close friends, sometimes seem to forget, and I think this is largely down to a couple of things;

I use all I know about NLP and modern applied psychology, and astrology, to learn how to function in accord with society. A policewoman once told me I am not an aspie because I was engaging in eye-contact with her, ‘the books say ...blah blah eye-contact’, she exclaimed - 'So you cannot be Asperger's'.  She did not know I taught myself to hold eye contact after reading a book on how to be friendly when I was 16. I also used to do  ‘smiling exercises’  in a mirror, often for more than an hour a day ...

(did you hear the way I said, ‘Hello ...’, on the radio 4 thingy at Stonehenge  ? it is my  ‘learned’  hello, and you’ll see at the top of notes and hear it at the beginning of my Relaxation and hypnotherapy CDs ...  and if you watch the Big Breakfast footage on my web site or on facebook, you will notice that when Chris, the staff member, walks along the line saying, ‘big lorry, yellow lorry', with his arms outstretched, for a few steps, I follow and walk along with him. I couldn’t help it – I often, quite unconsciously follow people’s actions and direction – at a lecture last summer I first heard the term, ‘Echo-praxia’.)

So, to a large extent, I work at fitting in and this means my perceptual orientation/condition/autism becomes invisible to those around me. It is still there though, it is the lends through which I view life and express muyself, and when I respond in an appropriately aspie way I am often met with surprise, irritation, bewilderment, even anger ...

Imagine that ? – a person in a wheelchair being met with anger because it took them a while to pick up 50p from the floor – outrageous !!!

It won’t happen though, unless you are with a very unpleasant person, because a wheelchair is visible and thus, is always a part of the context of how we relate with that person. Have a go, if you can, of thinking of those in the autistic spectrum as living inside invisible neuro-chairs; it is how they filter what comes in to them .. and how they express themselves to the world around them. Questions and apparent pedantry are s not personal, just like needing to wear glasses is not a personal attack on those who do not like glasses. It is just a way of experience reality and is often invisible to the observer, and even forgotten sometimes by those who love them.

I apologise if anyone who lives with someone in the autistic spectrum finds any offence in my suggestion that they may sometimes forget their loved one has dyslexia, or aspergers etc ... It is not a comment about you – it is a description of my experience of reality, and may only be a description of the life of Dave.  If you’d like to know if anyone else has these kind of experiences, it would be interesting to ask ...
for more info, see here: 

David

Post script:

Living with a Beautiful  Mind’ - The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Pedantry:  a possibly somewhat rude example of the difference between Aspergers logic and Neuro-typical pedantry

 One year in 2004, a household name company decided to champion a different cause – they chose the National Autistic Society. They put out the call through the company for anyone who’d like to participate who likes in the autistic spectrum, or lives with someone who lives within the autistic spectrum to be interviewed to create a booklet to encourage awareness …

I was mentioned and asked if I’d like to participate and I said, ‘of course’. They wanted to do a feature on me called, ‘living with a beautiful  mind’, which I thought was really nice. To do this, they had hired what  I can only describe as an in-house journalist, or at least, someone was delegated the task. She asked Reena if I’d be free to talk on the phone for half an hour one particular afternoon and was told,

‘yes, though  you’d better clear your diary for the afternoon’.

 ‘Oh, great. Though it will only be a short …’.  

‘Yes, I know - so you’d better clear your diary’ … the journalist’s puzzlement was itself short-lived …

The appointed moment came and the phone duly rang. We said, ‘hello’, and got chatting and she asked, ‘So, what’s it like living with an autistic spectrum disorder ?’

I heard the word ‘disorder’ and began to feel a need to either educate or encourage deeper thought.

I replied, ‘Well, I wouldn’t call it a disorder – I would say I have an Autistic Spectrum Perception’,

J – ‘oh, right, sorry. Well, I called it that because that’s what it says on the web National Autistic Society web site. Do you have a problem with the words people use ?  ...  you probably take words literally don’t you … ?

Hmmm ... I heard, and not for the first time, ‘...  you probably take words literally don’t you … ?’ and inwardly sighed ...

Because:

She asked the last part of her question with a tone that implied I am to be pitied because I take words literally and that literalism is some kind of problem. I decided deeper thought was required …

D – ahh .. ok, here’s a quote for you. Can you write this down verbatim ?

J – of course ..

D – ready …

J – full of anticipation, ‘yes’ …

D – ‘anyone who doesn’t take words literally … is a  Wanker !

J – ‘oh my goodness, what .., I , I can’t write that into the piece, I’m sorry but …

D – ‘that’s the quote, write it down, “anyone who doesn’t take words literally is a wanker” … ’

D – ‘really, they are … because wanker means, “highly attractive and intelligent individual” … doesn’t it … ? … :) '

J – ‘what ?...’

D – ‘wanker – means highly attractive and intelligent individual .. in the world of a person who doesn’t take words literally … doesn’t it ? … :) ’

J – ‘I’m not sure I follow …’

D – ‘ok; there aren’t two Oxford English Dictionaries really, are there ? It’s not as if there is the section that holds the words with relevant fixed meanings that we all refer to in a sense of shared reality, and there is the other section that holds the words with irrelevant meanings to which we randomly attribute whatever meaning we happen to feel like at the time. No, there is one English dictionary that states the agreed shared meaning of every word in the English dictionary. Either the word, ‘Wanker’ is offensive because we all agree that that is, because of it’s defined meaning in the body of literature we call a dictionary, or, the word ‘wanker’  means anything you want it to, because the only people who fix meanings to words are people who takes things literally, and they have a disorder.

Either, you take words literally, or you don’t; and if you don’t, you really are a wanker … :) ’

J – ‘ahhh … I see. Ha ha, though I still can’t print it’

D – ‘that’s a shame, because I am told I have a disorder by people who are doing exactly the same thing as me. Really, if anyone talks about someone as if being literal is a problem, just call them a wanker and they’ll soon realise their offended feelings are revealing that they are doing exactly the same thing – responding to words as if they have a shared and defined meaning’.

‘Honestly, if you wanted me to  communicate in a way that wasn’t literal I could draw a picture or dance or play some music but really, since words are both the  tools and product of a literal medium and I can only use them in a literal way …’

J – ‘you think deeply  don’t you ?’

D – ‘now, that is a trait of being Aspergers … :) ’

J – ‘and you seem to have a sense of humour, which the web site say’s you shouldn’t have’

D – ‘oh goodness, that one as well. Ok, journalist person, to me, it seems to be like this: if a comedian was playing at the comedy store in London and went out, did his act, and then shuffled off the stage to absolute silence, not even a slow clap or a boo, it would be totally unrealistic for the bad comedian to then announce, ‘what a terrible audience out there tonight. I was really very funny and not one of them laughed – not one of them has a sense of humour …’

Of course, this would be daft. It is not the audience who lacks a sense of humour, it the comedian who lacks the ability to inspire laughter within them. That’s right, isn’t it ?’

J – ‘well, yes …’


D- ‘So, I can only assume that one day some psychologist sat in front of someone with aspergers syndrome and told bad jokes so badly that he didn’t even raise a smile and like some deluded bad comedian announced, ‘the patient does not laugh – conclusion: Anyone with Aspergers Syndrome does not have a sense of humour’. This announcement is taken literally by other non-aspergers people as being a statement of truth and is even written on Aspergers websites as a guide to symptoms …’

She was on the phone for two and a half hours and I have a copy of the booklet, ‘Living with a Beautiful Mind’.

‘A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself part of the liberation, and a foundation for inner security’.

 Albert  Einstein

'Self Correcting' - a dynamic of conceptual processing within the Autistic Spectrum by David Rowan

Website

Autism can be thought of as a spectrum, ranging from subtly mild at one end to full at the other; from mild dyslexia to full autism.

Different parts of the spectrum hold unique qualities and yet those further along the scale also hold some of the qualities of those from the earlier milder areas of the spectrum as well; these qualities may also vary in depth or strength; all of these conditions, from very mild dyslexia to full autism are a part of what is known as The Autistic Spectrum.

When had my first university Asperger's/Dyslexia assessment in Southampton in 2002, they discovered I had a  particular dynamic in my thought processing which they called 'Self Correcting'. This was considered to be so disadvantageous to my forthcoming work as a student, that I was awarded a support worker who would check all my work for grammatical errors and typos, like a university appointed proof reader. My tendency for self correcting prompted a great deal of concern ...

What is it ?

On the surface, 'Self Correcting' sounds like it describes a person proof reading themselves; typing some words, checking for errors, identifying errors, and then correcting the errors ...

However, it is not ...it is much more

The first step to understanding Self Correcting is to identify the location of the correcting. What I mean is this;

In the above example of correcting errors, proof reading oneself, the correcting process is external. The brain coordinates the eyes and hands to produce text. The eye scans the text and the brain identifies parts of the text which are incongruous to remembered text-rules. The brain the navigates the hands to physically touch the keys of the physical external keyboard, so that the outer reality is adjusted to meet the remembered text-rules; spelling and grammar. The person has self-corrected the text.

The term, 'Self Correcting', describes a completely different process.

In Self Correcting, the correcting is located in the brain; within the neural processing itself.

Here, the brain coordinates the eyes and hands to produce text. The eye scans the text, and light from the page stimulates the optic nerve, as it does in the self-proof-reading example, however, the attention of the individual, what some might term, 'the mind's eye', is not focused upon the details of the external text. It is, instead, focussed upon the memory of what the individual has just written. the inner eye is not looking at the actuality of what has been written; it is looking at the memory of what the individual wanted to write.

The text just written may have errors, it may have no errors, but the individual cannot 'see' the text - they can only  'see' the memory of their intention. Think about that for a moment, they can only see their memory of their intention ...

All while the individual can remember their intended text, what they wanted to write, they cannot see it objectively; all they can  'see' is their subjective text.

What I find is that if I look at something I have just written, I cannot see the errors - they are invisible to me. However, if I leave the text for some time, or distract myself by thinking about something completely different, the resultant amnesia means that when I next look at whatI have written, I see the text through fresh, objective eyes - and I can the see the actual words my hands produced and the errors are plainly visible..

You may notice on here that I sometimes write a status post, and then delete it, replace it, delete it and replace it again - this happens when I have written something, got distracted and then blushed when I see the errors my dyspraxic hands have produced.

I can see the errors in other people's writing because i am not privy to the memory of their intention; in other words, because I am not aware of what they wanted to write, my inner eye is not beguiled by the memory - so my attention rests upon the physical page and sees what is actually there. This is then compared to the grammatical rules stored within my unconscious, and I am able to spot text which is incongruous to the rules of which I have knowledge.

I thought it would be interesting to post the following question on facebook:

'a question for those with Dyslexia: do you find you are able to spot typos and errors in the writings of other people ?'

Every reply confirmed the same; those with dyslexia who cannot see their own errors, can see them in the writings of other people. This suggests that those who replied are Self Correcting.

For me, this Self Correcting mechanism, or neural dynamic, has boarder implications.

If we stop thinking of the Self Correcting process as something related with writing, and instead view it as a neural process, then it becomes clear that the disparity between viewing the external world objectively for what it is, and attending to the mind's inner concept of 'what is', may have more general implications.

For example, if I expect the stairs to be a clearway of ascending steps which lead to the upper landing, all I 'see' is a 'clearway of ascending steps which lead to the upper landing'. If there is something placed  at the foot of the stairs, I literally do not  'see' it; really - even if I have to make an effort of climbing over it, or navigating around it, my inner vision is fixated on the memory of my intention - to arrive at the upper landing, and that is all I 'remember' afterwards; my ascending journey along clearway of  steps to the landing ...

If the TV screen is covered in dust, I do not see the dust; I see,  'that which I am looking for', which is the electrical picture emanating from the screen.

This Self Correcting processing can be useful in certain contexts; when I look at someone's face I rarely see their spots and blemishes ... (until they point them out). Navigating your way through a world of expectations, can be bewildering, entertaining, socially disadvantageous and even downright dangerous. Not seeing the car as you step into an expected clear road, not seeing the open manhole :) ...

Not seeing a friend's face as they pass you in a busy street is inconvenient - not seeing the temporary mess of a local roadwork's is convenient. Not being able to do your shopping because the supermarket has moved the shelves around and changed the colours of their packaging is very inconvenient - being able to clearly remember the circumstances of a difficulty and its associated feelings and thoughts, described by a client in a therapy session is very convenient. Forgetting someone's name but remembering their Moon sign is ...

I cannot read music, but I can play guitar because I learn the shapes of chords and the patterns of scales - though, I rarely have a clue what the names of the chords or notes are.

if you'd like a little technicality of the neuroscience of the 'inner vision', or, 'mind's eye' ...

In neuroscience, units of perceptions, such as the stimulation of the optic nerve when light touches the retina, are known as 'percepts' A percept is a component of a perception.

Percepts, such as the stimulated optic nerve, go to the rear of the brain and then loop around and around. If they have sufficient intensity an awareness of them emerges and they become 'concepts'. Concepts are units of consciousness.

When we look at a tomato, we  'know' the tomato is on the outside of ourselves; a real physical tomato in the real physical external world.

When we remember a tomato, we somehow 'know' we are not looking at one, on the 'outside'

How ?

The name given to the knowing of what we know, neurologically is 'Qualia'. Qualia is the way neuroscientists discuss how a brain distinguishes the difference between, for example,  various shades of blue. Qualia is a mystery, as is much of the brain, and although the  technologies of the last decade have produced a great deal of new understandings of the brain, we are still at the stage of formative investigation.

I’d like to paste an extract from one of my papers here ...

(This may get a little technical, but it’s absolutely fascinating ...)

' The Narrative Self:

Stephen Pinker attests that humans have an instinct for language; ‘Language is so tightly woven into human experience it is scarcely possible to imagine life without it’ (Pinker, 1994, p.17). Words are not merely symbolic conveyers of ideas or meaning; the phenomena of language is a construct of what may be considered to be that which defines being human; a complex and sophisticated consciousness of self (Dennet, 1991, p.191).  Consciousness does not appear to arise from any single region or neural network of the brain, but appears to be an emergent function which arises from the integration and synchrony of cycles of neural processing (Cozolino, 2002, p153). In The Feeling of What Happens, Domasio describes the emergence of narrative as a process which begins with a proto-conscious core self:

'…neural patterns which become images, images being the same fundamental currency in which the description of the consciousness-causing object is also car­ried out. Most importantly, the images that constitute this narrative are incorporated in the stream of thoughts. The images in the con­sciousness narrative flow like shadows along with the images of the object for which they are providing an unwitting, unsolicited com­ment. To come back to the metaphor of movie-in-the-brain, they are within the movie. There is no external spectator (Domasio, 1999, p171).'

Domasio asserts the autobiographical self is constituted by implicit memories of multiple instances of past experiences which grow continuously and may be partly remodelled to reflect new experiences. Sets of memories which describe identity and person can be reactivated as a neural pattern and made explicit as images (Domasio, 1999, p.174). Edelman and Tononi confer, describing the formation of the autobiographical self as, ‘the remembered present’, a higher-order of consciousness which can place itself in a scheme of the past, present and anticipated future, which, in its most developed form has a semantic and linguistic capability (Edelman and Tononi, 2000, p. 103).'

The architecture of the brain is not completely static and fixed. The term, ‘Neuro Plasticity’, is used to describe how the brain’s shape is changed when different cells are used, a bit like making a new path in a field of soft tall grass. The more the path is used, the more ingrained the pathway becomes. If it falls out of use it can disappear. Yes; a whole chain of thought, an idea, can literally vanish from your head. American neuroscientists have coined the phrase, ‘use it ... or lose it’.

So, the shape of our brain determines how easily we may, or may not, express facets of our character, including problem solving abilities and the options of thoughts we may have. Obviously, when faced with a challenge in life, the more choices we have through the soft ling grass, the easier it may be to find a way to overcome the challenge and thrive.

Less thought options = less choices = higher chance of failure or becoming stuck.

More choice options = more choices = higher chance of success ... finding new horizons ... and survival.

What creates the thought options ?

Brain activity

What stimulates brain activity ?

Our actions, the environment, and narrative; words.

What stimulates the brain with words while also providing us with new words, which are new thought choices, new pathways ?

Books.

Bibliography: the books mentioned above (and a few more you may enjoy ...):

Bowlby, J., 1979, The Making and Breaking of Affectional Bonds, Tavistock Publications

Capra, F., 1996, The Web of Life, HarperCollins.

Cozolino, L., 2002, The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy, W.W. Norton and Company inc.

Domasio, A., 1999, The Feeling of What Happens, William Heinemann.

Edelman, G M, Tononi, G., 2000, Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination, Allen Lane The Penguin Press.

Grinder, J., Bandler, R., 1981, Trance-formations, Real People Press.

Guastello S, Koopmans M, Pincus D, 2009, Chaos and Complexity in Psychology, Cambridge University Press.

Jackendorff R, 2007, Language, Consciousness, Culture; Essays on Mental Structure, The MIT Press.

Kirkpatrick L A, 2005, Attachment, Evolution, And The Psychology of Religion, The Guildford  Press.

Pinker S, 1994, the Language Instinct, penguin Books.

Sacks O, 1995, An Anthropologist on Mars, Picador.

Schore A N, 2003, Affect Regulation And The Origin Of the Self, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Watson P, Ideas: 2005, A History from Fire To Freud, Weidenfield & Nicolson.

and I recently found ...

Autism and the Edges of the Known World: Sensitivities, Language and Constructed Reality - Bogdashina

Memory in Autism: Theory and Evidence - Boucher and Bowler

Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain - Domasio

The Healing Power of Emotion: Affective Neuroscience, Development & Clinical Practice - Fosha, Siegal and Solomon.

© David Rowan, November 2011

‘A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself part of the liberation, and a foundation for inner security’.

 Albert  Einstein